Alexis started her career as a kindergarten teacher in the special needs department, working with children and families. As time went on, she grew an interest in understanding complex behaviours and decided to pursue a role as a behaviour support practitioner at The Benevolent Society in Penrith.
“I worked in behavioural schools and found I had more of a passion to work with students with behavioural needs, so it just seemed like the perfect next thing to do”, she said.
Behaviour support is working closely with clients and their families to assist in managing behaviours of concern as they interact with others and their environment.
Alexis says the signs that someone requires assistance can be subtle or obvious.
“As practitioners, we like to understand the behaviours that may be interrupting their daily activities and routines at home, school and out in the community. It can even be how they engage in their relationships. It can also be sensory issues, hyper fixation or even concerns with their safety or safety of others”.
Clients who require support can vary from young children, teenagers to adults with services taking place wherever is suitable for the client either within the home, school or community.
Clinical supervisor and behaviour support specialist in Penrith, Angela says the role of behaviour support practitioners extend further than just working directly with clients and their families.
“We often work with other professionals within The Benevolent Society to ensure the help we provide is holistic. For example, behaviour support and speech pathology often go hand-in- hand because in many cases, behaviour aligns with communication. The speech pathologists are so helpful in working with us to run communication assessments and offer recommendations”.
With the Penrith team’s strong cohort of behaviour support specialists, occupational therapists, speech therapists, physiotherapists and psychologists at The Benevolent Society, Angela believes there are endless amounts of knowledge, experience and resources for their clients and their families.
“We are fortunate to have a wonderful, close-knit team who really care for the people we work with. For example, if a client has concerning behaviour in the mornings getting dressed for school, we will work closely with their speech pathologist and their occupational therapist to work out how to manage their morning routine – having that extra structure and alignment if that client has other supports can really make a big difference.”
In addition to the holistic approach to therapy supports offered at The Benevolent Society, the team work together to ensure the supports are tailored to the needs of each client.
“We work closely with families to help them not only navigate the diagnosis which can be tough in itself but we also work with them to develop strategies and skills that align with their current family circumstances so they can ultimately learn how to manage these things themselves with us guiding them”.
The team also work closely with local GP’s, schools and hospitals.
In terms of eligibility the process of applying for behaviour support is relatively easy starting off with completing a referral form and understanding the individual to determine the supports needed.
Behaviour support is one of the many services offered within Disability Services at The Benevolent Society. For more information, or to submit a referral, visit here.